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Bombers could regain Watson in AFL

Roger Vaughan

Essendon captain Jobe Watson could be a vital inclusion for next Sunday's AFL blockbuster against Collingwood.

The Brownlow Medallist has been out of action since round 15 with a broken collarbone.

Essendon badly missed his grunt around the stoppages in Friday night's 56-point loss to Hawthorn.

"We're hoping he'll play this week," said coach James Hird.

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"He has an x-ray on his collarbone on Thursday and if that comes up well, he'll play against Collingwood."

The loss to Hawthorn compounded the worries for Essendon, with the club sweating on the outcomes of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and AFL investigations into last year's supplements program at the club.

Hird was emotional post-match, saying it was vital for the club that the investigations ended soon.

He also said the Hawks exposed his team for not being fierce enough at the contest.

That had been a feature of Essendon's improvement this season.

He did not mind some of the physical confrontation during the match, with Essendon midfielder Jake Melksham on report for rough conduct against Jarryd Roughead.

But Hird was concerned they did not match Hawthorn's hardness at the ball.

"We did get beaten up at the contests and we have to get some intensity back around the contests and (the) ferocity we had earlier in the year," he said.

"We've won six in a row up until (Friday night) and our contested work hasn't been great in all of our games.

"So that's an area we'll focus on over this week to get ready for Collingwood."

Sunday's twilight game will be crucial for the two teams, with Essendon wanting to preserve their top-four spot and Collingwood fighting to stay in the eight.

"We have a tough five weeks," Hird said of their run to the finals.

"Obviously the MCG, against Collingwood, a huge game again - they're fighting for top five or six, we're fighting hopefully for a top-four spot.

"So both sides will be desperate to win the game.

"It's another huge game for our club."

Essendon have now lost to the other three top-four sides - Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney - but Hird is not discouraged.

"We'd like to play those sides again - we'd like to get a chance to play against them in the finals," Hird said.

"We obviously have a lot of work to do to be able to do that - we certainly need to win a number of games to give ourselves the opportunity of top four.

"But I believe if we play the game the way we want to play it, we're a chance."